Welcome to the unordinary!
by Supersilver46
Summary: Cody Andersen was hoping for a change in his usual dull life back in Ontario, when he gets the chance to go to Wawanaka, a city where everything exciting happens, but Wawanaka has some pretty dark stuff going on with a recent gang war, a psychotic killer known as the "Slasher", and a mysterious black motercyclist...
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

" _It's so exciting! So exciting! So very exciting! There are still so many things I don't know about in this city! Even as I speak, something new is appearing, emerging, and something else is fading away. How can I leave a place where so many humans gather? HUMAN LOVE! I love humans! I love you all!"_

In Ikebukuro, Tokyo, strange groups of people gather: youths who yearn for an extraordinary life, trouble-making hooligans, crazy stalker girls, informants who sell information for their own enjoyment, underground doctors who treat unconventional 'ailments', high schoolers obsessed with the occult and, of course, a headless black biker.

Together, these strange characters tell a very unusual story, and very intriguing one at that. Twisted as they are, however, they still can talk about love.

This is a twisted story:

"Dave! Dave! Are you home? I'm here again! Oh my, you accidentally locked the door again? Now I can't get in!" 

Danger, danger. The stalker has invaded my home. She's been banging on my door and she won't even ring the doorbell. What the hell is she thinking?

"The door's locked! Dave, you aren't sleeping, are you? Ah—it's my first time calling on a guy while he's asleep! I'm so bold!"

Warning, warning…I've been on my toes since last week. Last week I saved two bumpkins from being harassed by some hooligan. I'd asked and found out that they were going to the same high school as I was and would be studying in the same first-year class. But I never expected for things to turn out this way. The other girl was a polite little goody two shoes, but this one…

"Well…actually I…I've always liked Dave! Do you remember? During the entrance exam, I was sitting right beside Dave! The guy sitting to my right had this totally awesome name like 'Cody Andersen' and I wanted to know what kind of name the person on my left had, so I turned and—it was love at first sight! From that day on I've always remembered Dave's name! Even though I didn't have the guts to confess to you that day…but just last week, Dave saved me, and then I thought at that moment…ah, this must be fate! Do you know how much courage that gave me? So– So, let me look at you again, won't you? Dave, I really want to look at that strong, energetic face of yours! Please please, pretty please, Dave!"

Caution, caution. After I saved this kid, she'd secretly followed me home. And she did it every day of the week after that. Even after I told her to fuck off plenty of times. That crap she shouted just now? I've heard it two thousand times.

"Don't tell me you're ill, Dave?! Are you so sick that you can't answer me? That's no good! Hurry and open the door, Dave! Since the day of the entrance exam, I've been looking up stuff about you, Dave! I know your birthday, about your family…everything about you!"

Police. Police. I told her I was going to call the police—she'd only backed down after I told her that.

Three hours after the invasion, I guessed that the girl had already gone home, so I decided to buy some stuff at the convenience store downstairs. As I held the toothpaste I bought in my hand, images of that princess girl flashed across my mind.

My first impression of her was a rather pretty girl with a touch of maturity and sophistication. Perhaps 'beautiful lady' would be a better description. But why would a lovely girl like her have no boyfriend? What I'd just experienced was the perfect answer to that question. No matter how cute that girl was, I would still politely decline her affections. If it had been someone who really wanted a girlfriend, they wouldn't have to think twice about accepting her love; as for me, I'm not interested. Not even a little. Because I already have a 'girlfriend'.

But what about the school entrance ceremony tomorrow? As I walked down the narrow corridor, towards my apartment, I kept on thinking about it.

If I go to school tomorrow, I'll have to meet that girl. I'd be better off not going. Ah…it doesn't matter. I have a girlfriend already. She's quiet and beautiful, a far cry from that girl. As long as I'm with her, it doesn't matter whether I go to high school or not. Maybe I should just work at Sis' office and be one of those part-time student workers or something.

Ah I remember! I finally remember why I saved those girls. Even though these are completely different matters, that girl really looked like my girlfriend, so I'd saved her. Now that I think of it, it was a totally stupid thing to do. I'd saved her just because she looked like her, but how was I to know that she was actually this kind of person?

I kept thinking about it as I slipped my house keys into the lock.

Eh? Weird.

—The door's unlocked.

Danger danger—my whole body was stricken with alarm.

Sirens were wailing; I opened the door to see a pair of girl's shoes.

"Da-Dave…"

As I stepped into the apartment, I saw that stalker girl standing there. Just standing still.

It was then I came to realize that, even though I was looking at the girl who had broken into my house, I was strangely calm. Because I was looking at the expression on her face the whole time.

So I forced a few words out of my mouth and they were cold, colder than I'd expected. So cold that even I was surprised.  
"So you saw it?"

"Eh…that…I…uh…"

The expression that unfolded on her face was totally different from before. It was uneasy and full of fear.

…Hmph, so even she was capable of making those expressions.

Then I was sure. I was sure—this kid had seen what she shouldn't have seen.

"That…that…Dave…I…uh…I won't tell anyone! Even if you're like this, I still really like Dave! Um…so…so…don't worry! No matter what kind of hobbies you have, I'll definitely accommodate them…so…that…that's…"

The tables were turned. Now she was the one who couldn't attack.

"It's alright."

"Dave!"

After what I'd said, the stalker sounded hopeful once again.

"It's alright."

"Da…ve?"

She'd noticed the coldness in my glare. In that moment, a cloud of unease drifted across her face. I wanted to see an expression of complete despair, so I repeated:

" _It's alright._ "

"Dave!"

When Sis brought home two underlings that night, I was sitting in the living room, eating cup noodles. The two underlings deftly placed the stalker girl's body into a suitcase and brought it out. Sis scanned the room, looked at the bloodstains on the wall, and then hugged me tightly:

"It's alright, don't worry about a thing."

Even though there was some warmth to her embrace, I found that it was rather difficult to eat while she held me.

"Dave, you don't have to worry about anything. Your sister will take care of everything, understand?"

"Sis, I don't care about that girl. I only care about 'her'."

"So Dave was the one who took her…it doesn't matter, you just leave everything to your sister. It's no problem; as long as I'm here, I won't let anything happen to Dave…especially those horrible police officers—I'll never let them take you away, never, never, so you can just sit back and relax."

After Sis finished talking, she gave the underlings a few orders and left.

I don't think I should go work at Sis's office because it seems that Sis has some underworld connections the company doesn't know about. Like those underlings today. They saw a dead person and just acted on instruction without flinching even once. That's not a good thing.

I'm not going to work with those evil people. If I do, won't I become like them?

And if I become like them and get arrested, she'll be so lonely. I'll never let anything like that happen—I'll never let her be lonely.

As I watched Sis's underlings stoically scrubbing the bloodstains off the wall, I forced down those overcooked cup noodles.

Ah, those noodles tasted really bad.

This is a very twisted story.

—A twisted…love story.

 **Supersilver46- And that's a wrap, I really hoped you enjoyed my new story, it's mainly based of** _ **Durarara,**_ **which I've become obsessed with, anyway I'll see you guys next time!**


	2. Dollars Arc: Part 1

Chapter 1: Shadow PART 1

 _Chatroom (Holiday, Evening)_

 _Cmeister: Like I was saying, the strongest group in Wawanaka now has got to be the Dollars!_

Skysthelimit: [Although I've never met a Dollars member, I've heard a lot of rumors about them.]

 **Queen Bee:That's because they don't like being in the spotlight! Besides, everyone's talking about them online!**

 _Oh…you seem to know a lot about Wawanaka, Queen Bee._

 **Nah…not that well.**

 **Ah…then then then, have you heard about the black biker incident?**

 _Black biker?_

[Wow…]

 **It's caused a lot of commotion in Boney Avenue and Wawanaka! It was even on the news yesterday!**

….

 _Wawanaka, somewhere in the Boney Avenue Financial District (midnight)_

"You're…a…monster! AHHHHHH!"

The youth let out a piercing scream, raised the metal pipe in his hand, and fled. It was midnight and the youth was making a frenzied dash out of the multi-story carpark. He was gripping metal pipe in his right hand so tightly that it was almost the same temperature as his body. His hands were numbing from the cold sweat seeping from his palms.

There was no one at all, only a few cars waiting silently for their owners.

Aside from the sound of his own heavy footsteps, his breathing, and his rapidly accelerating heartbeat, the carpark was completely silent. Each sound resonated in his ears.

Treading between the huge concrete pillars, the hoodlum howled, "Sh-shit! Shit Shit! Shit! I'm…I'm…I'm…gonna get killed! Fuck this!"

Though the youth's eyes blazed with anger, the words that spilled out of his mouth were clearly fearful.

Till this moment, the tattoo on the hoodlum's neck had been a constant source of fear and intimidation to his enemies. But today, the tattoo on his neck had been distorted into an unrecognizable form by his own fear. A second later, the indigo tattoo he'd acquired on a whim was marked with the unmistakable imprint of a certain black boot–

…

 **Actually, it's a rumor that's been circulating for a long time. Since most phones now have a camera function, many people have managed to take pictures of the black rider, and it was an instant hit!**

[Yeah, I know about that too. But it's not really an urban legend, or anything exotic or bizarre is it? I think it's probably the Skullers…but then again, they haven't been getting together for drag races lately…]

 **But the fact that it doesn't have any headlights makes it weird enough!**

 **If it was human, that is…**

 _I don't get you._

 **Ah that…to put it bluntly, it's probably a monster!**

…

The boots met flesh to the sound of a soft, cracking noise. The youth was spun in a half-circle midair and flew overhead in a distorted arc.

Though he was concussed by the time the side of his body hit the ground, his limbs still flailed in panic. It was bitingly cold and his body was numb, so he could hardly feel the chill of the concrete. It was like the youth was blindly fleeing from some kind of nightmare. He turned, realizing that the source of his fear was hot on his heels.

What he saw seemed to be a shadow—in fact, the very definition of the word. It was unmistakably a 'shadow'.

The shadow was wearing a black, full-body biker suit with no frivolous designs or emblems. It was so dark that it looked like it had been pitch-black to begin with and dyed with ink to deepen the color. If it hadn't been for the fluorescent lights of the carpark, perhaps, he wouldn't have noticed that someone was there.

But the most ominous part of the shadow was the peculiar helmet it wore above its neck. Together with the pure blackness of body suit, the patterns on the helmet and its shape melded together into some kind of abstract sense of artistry. Though these things contrasted greatly together, they didn't particularly clash.

The visor of the helmet was as dark as the tinted windows of luxury cars. All that could be seen was the constant flickering of the fluorescent lamps and nothing of the expression under the helmet.

"…"

The shadow exuded nothing but a sense of serenity and didn't seem remotely like a living thing. The youth observed the shadow creature with a look contorted by fear and disgust.

"I…I-I-I-I…I don't remember offending no Terminator!"

This would normally sound like a joke, but the youth was clearly not in the mood to crack jokes anymore.

"T-talk! Talk! Who are you? What the hell are you?"

To the youth, the very existence of such a shadow was completely mind-blowing. He had been doing what he was supposed to do, as he normally did at the bottom floor of the carpark. He was just supposed to run some 'errands' and then leave. The errand was a mere delivery of some 'goods' for a client and then a collection of more 'goods'. That was all there was to it, and he had done what he always did. What the hell did he do wrong? What the hell had he done to attract the attention of this…monster—

The youth and his 'colleagues' had only desired a normal work day, but today, their usual routine had been disrupted without a single warning.

As they waited at the entrance of the carpark for the late arrival of one of their colleagues, the shadow had suddenly appeared. A motorcycle had passed the entrance noiselessly, coming to a stop about ten meters away from where they were.

The youth and his colleagues had noticed many oddities as 'it' had passed.

Firstly, when that motorcycle was passing, it hadn't made a single sound. Perhaps there had been the slight sound of the friction of rubber tires against the road, but most importantly, the engine had been completely silent. Of course, the rider could have switched off his engine and merely allowed his momentum to carry him past the entrance; even if this was so, the engine should have made some noise before it had been turned off, but no one had heard any sound from it at all.

The weird thing was, both the motorbike and its rider were completely black. The engine box, the transmission shaft, and even the rim of the wheels were completely black. There were no headlights, and where the license plate was supposed to be, there was only a black metal plaque. Everyone could only manage to discern that the shadow was in fact a motorbike because it was faintly illuminated by the street lamps and the moonlight.

What was even more peculiar was the fact that the rider's black hand was holding a large item. The object's size was comparable to that of the rider, and down the narrower end, an opaque liquid was dripping onto the asphalt.

"Leonard…?"

One of the youth's companions could make out just what the ragged object was. The rider, still on his motorcycle, loosed his grip and flung the object—no, 'him' onto the asphalt.

It was the person they had been waiting for, the 'colleague' who was late. His face was swollen, like he had been beaten ruthlessly and blood dribbled from his nose and mouth.

"It can't be…"

"Who the hell is he?"

Everyone felt rather strange, but none of them felt fearful. They didn't even feel angry about seeing one of their colleagues as beaten as he was, probably because this group was made up of colleagues and nothing more.

"Whaddaya want? Whaddaya want? What the hell do you want?"

One of them, a man wearing a hoodie who looked like the dumbest of the lot stepped forth. There was only one of him and five of them. They had an advantage in terms of numbers, which this made the youth especially arrogant. The moment he'd gotten to the motorbike's side, however, the tables had been turned. It was now one-on-one and the only one who noticed was the one straddling the motorbike.

"…"

 _Crunch._

There was an ominous shattering sound, something completely unearthly. A sound that made one feel nothing but unease. A sound that set off internal sirens, wailing, 'Danger, danger…'

At the same time, the man in the hoodie keeled over, his face smashing against the asphalt.

"What the—?"

The others were alarmed. Like they usually did whenever they were on a job, they paid close attention to their surroundings. Only then did they realize that the enemy was the motorbike before them and no one else – and that the 'shadow' on the motorcycle was slowly lowering its boot to the ground.

They were watching its movements intently. It had set its foot on the ground, which meant that its foot had been raised above the ground earlier, but the more observant of the colleagues were watching something else entirely.

They were watching what was under the boot: the glasses of the man who had arrived in a hoodie.

Now they finally understood what had transpired.

—The 'shadow', straddling the motorbike had kicked out a leg and knocked down the guy in the hoodie with ease.

If they'd seen the guy's face, they would have notice that he'd broken his nose. The 'shadow' rider had actually calculated the distance of the kick so that it wasn't enough not to send him flying, while it'd used the indentation in the sole of his boot to catch onto his nose and twist it.

The onlookers could hardly grasp this. Half of them found it strange. How could someone who had been kicked that way fall flat? Without a second thought, the other half of the group immediately grabbed the police baton and the stun guns they had strapped to their waists.

"What…what the hell happened? Eh…ah? But…how did he get hurt…?"

While the youths were deliberating on just that, two of their colleagues let out howls of rage and charged at the motorcycle.

"Ah, hey…"

As the youths thought of what to say, they saw the 'shadow' soundlessly slipping off the motorbike. They could hear crunching as he stepped on the broken glass underfoot. The 'shadow' was completely expressionless as he merely took noiseless steps towards them. He moved elegantly, a shadow personified.

The events that transpired next were to become deeply ingrained in the memory of the young hoodlum and felt then like they were played out in slow motion. Perhaps this was because the situation was too surreal to completely comprehend, or because his sense of danger was rapidly increasing by the second.

One of the men had shoved the stun gun into the 'shadow's' body.

—But, could electricity penetrate leather?

He saw the 'shadow' shudder violently as that question came to mind. Apparently it could. Problem solved. The man breathed a sigh of relief and made to shock him twice more, but in the next moment, the hoodlum's chest tightened once again with anxiety.

The 'shadow' was shuddering violently, but he'd shot out a hand to grab one of the other men who was armed with a baton.

"ARGH!"

Unlike the 'shadow', who had merely been shaking, the baton-wielding guy was violently jolted backwards violently and fell on the ground in a heap.

"You bastard…"

The stun gun guy suddenly noticed that the 'shadow' was reaching for him now and hastily turned off his stun gun. The situation did not improve and the 'shadow' had begun to close his hand around his neck.

Even as he struggled with all his strength, the 'shadow' did not release his relentless grip. Even when he kicked the 'shadow' hard in the shins, its helmet exuded only calm and darkness.

"Eh…ah…"

The stun gun guy was strangled until his eyes rolled up into their sockets, leaving only the whites of his eyes visible. He collapsed in much the same way the baton guy had.

—Not good.

Even though he didn't really know what was going on, he knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good. He hadn't moved an inch. Including Koji, four out of six of them were already down. Terror manifested itself in the hoodlum's chest, not because he was cowardly, but because he had no idea what was going on at all.

"Looks like he knows some hand to hand…"

The hoodlum was scared shitless, but his colleague on his right was much calmer and whispered his speculations.

"Ga-san."

In response, the hoodlum called his name needily. The man that the hoodlum called Ga-san could have been considered the leader of the colleagues' group. He watched the 'shadow's' movements silently. Even though there was no sign of intense fear in his eyes, it couldn't be said that he was entirely composed.

Ga-san drew a large knife out of his jacket. "I don't know what you've dabbled in…but you'll die if you get stabbed with this," he said cautiously as he held the knife in hand and staggered toward the 'shadow'.

The knife twirled in his hands. It was much larger than a fruit knife or a dagger, but it wasn't as large as those knives in manga's. The hilt of the knife fit perfectly in a palm, and the blade, which was about as long as its hilt, gleamed coldly.

"I don't care what you've done before, but I don't think you can hold this off with your bare hands…huh? Huh?"

The actions of the 'shadow' brought his provocations to an abrupt halt.

The 'shadow' bent down slightly and picked up the two things before him: the baton and the stun gun that the two hoodlums had wielded before.

"…"

In his right hand, he held a stun gun. In his left was a police baton. It was a strange form of nito-ryuu2.

The carpark, previously as quiet as it was eerie, had plunged into total silence.

"Eh…weird… It can't be! You're not using hand-to-hand?" the leader asked, breaking the silence. He sounded as if he was questioning himself instead of the 'shadow'.

Though his question sounded a little like a joke, fear was thick in his voice. If only they'd attacked this guy all at once from the get-go! Now it seemed like there was no way out and he'd look bad if he decided to retreat.

The hoodlum standing behind him was rooted to the spot. If the opponent had been some gang member or the police, he would have jumped in to help without a second thought. No, all four of them would have stepped in to help.

But at this very moment, the 'thing' they were up against was just too strange. They were no longer acting the way they had been earlier. Standing before them was just someone wearing a biker's suit, but the unpleasant aura that the 'shadow' exuded made him uneasy, as though his own existence was flowing into some otherworldly place.

Perhaps because he'd noticed the hoodlum's uneasiness, Ga-san gritted his teeth and yelled, "You asshole! I only have one knife on me and you're cowerin' over there! You little pussy!"

As he protested against how unfair things were for him, the 'shadow' had silently gotten to his feet and had faced the leader.  
And then the hoodlum saw 'that' materialize into a tangible form right before his very eyes.

…

 **The black rider isn't human.**

 _Then what is it?_

[Just an idiot.]

 **Guitar Guy says it's probably the Grim Reaper.**

 _Guitar Guy?_

 **I've seen it before, actually…the black biker chasing someone.**

 _Who's Guitar Guy?_

[Did you call the police?]

 **How should I put it… Basically, the fact that it had that thing meant it couldn't be human.**

… _Hey don't ignore me! Who's Guitar Guy?!_

 **At first I wasn't sure, but then I realized it had come from inside his body—**

…

 _?_

[I think he got disconnected.]

 _Huh? But he was just in the middle of both stories! What came from inside his body?_

 _And who's Guitar Guy?_

 **Supersilver46: Here's the second chapter, thanks to everyone who've reviewed so far! I'm pretty sure most of you have a guess to the people in the chat room are, and who Guitar Guy is, and I'm sure you'll see them soon!**


	3. Dollars Arc: Part 2

Shadow PART 2

…

"…?"

Before the hoodlum and the leader, the 'shadow' was doing something strange. The stun gun he had just bent down to pick up was now safely placed upon the seat of his motorcycle.

Maybe using two weapons at once was too tiring for him? The hoodlum thought, until he saw that the 'shadow' had taken the police baton in both hands—

The 'shadow' bent the baton like it was a chopstick.

"What—?"

Astonishment crossed their faces and for a moment they wore identical expressions. They couldn't begin to fathom what kind of trick that guy was playing on them. How the hell had he bent that baton?! The 'shadow' was petite and did not appear at all to be capable of possessing that kind of monstrous strength.

More importantly, the fact that the 'shadow' had managed to dispose of a specialized weapon just like that added to the unease growing in their hearts. They felt like this was all becoming more real.

The 'shadow' was now empty-handed. The hoodlum had thus picked up a metal pipe that had been leaning on the surrounding wall. The leader saw the motion from the corner of his eye and raised his knife as well.

Cold sweat poured down their foreheads. The feeling of the sweat on their skin was the only thing they had to convince themselves what they were seeing before them was real.

"You…you tryin' to scare us? Well?" the leader said carelessly, glancing at the bent baton.

A drop of cold sweat happened to trickle into his mouth, which he swallowed slowly. As for the hoodlum, he had stopped bothering to look around. He could only hold the metal pipe quietly while he panted heavily.

His breathing was getting more rapid, and he realized that his feet, back and jaw were trembling. It seemed that the shadow's efforts to 'scare' them had indeed served its purpose.

The 'shadow' stepped toward them, almost as if he wanted a closer look at their terrified expressions.

"You're still empty-handed. You've got guts."

In comparison to the hoodlum, who was scared shitless, the leader sounded like he had steeled himself. A fierce glow burned in his eyes as he held his knife tightly and strode confidently toward the 'shadow'.

The distance between both of them was now about three meters. With just a couple of steps, it would be in range of his knife.  
—Ga-san wouldn't back out at the last minute. He wouldn't chicken out.

The young hoodlum was clear on this point. He readied his metal pipe behind his leader, preparing to support him.

The leader took another step forward. The animosity he had previously possessed had transformed into pure, murderous intent. Because the hoodlum felt sure that his leader would stab the guy with all he had, with the intent to kill, he mustered the courage to provide backup. He had absolutely no reservations about killing. Besides, the guy before him was just a shadow, which could hardly count as really killing anyone.

The hoodlum honestly thought that they had a chance at victory now that his leader was moving in for the kill. Strength rushed into the grip he had on the metal pipe, but in the next moment, the possibility of victory and all their intentions vanished as a wisp of smoke.

They watched as the 'shadow' reached for its back and a part of its black body began to swell. An inky smoke was billowing from the shadow's body, smoke that seemed to move with a mind of its own. The smoke had become as black as the rider's glove as it massed in the 'shadow's' black gloved palm and writhed like a snake.

The black 'stream' was particularly vivid against the sky, like an inky paintbrush that had been dipped into clear water. Once the movements of the inky stream slowed, they began to condense and form an object that was as equally dark as the rest of him. The two people standing witness were transfixed by this spectacle and had been rendered completely silent. Standing still, illuminated by the street lamps and the fluorescent lights from the multi-story car park, the two men finally understood. Their opponent wasn't human. It really was not human.

As black vapor separated from the 'shadow's body, they noticed that a cloud of black smoke was engulfing its body, slowly dissolving its figure until everything but its helmet had become a blur under the glare of the light.

They no longer knew what to make of the situation. They were absolutely confused. Escape was no longer an option, so they could only fall back on their previous plan. The knife-wielder, dazed, pulled back the hand holding the knife and shot it out again, driving toward the shadow's abdomen—

But at the instant before the knife came into contact with the shadow's body, the leader felt a kind of opposing force knocking back his weapon. He didn't lose his grip, but he did lose his balance, which left an opening for the shadow to retaliate.

"?!"

The black mass that had knocked back the knife became dimly visible in the darkness.

The 'thing' was totally black. It was blacker than the deepest darkness. It seemed to be absorbing all surrounding light, quivering as though it was alive. The object that had manifested itself out of the billowing black smoke was horrifyingly out of place in Canada's most modern area, but a 'shadow' dressed as a biker was wielding it, so it too was blending in seamlessly with their surroundings.

The object that had materialized in the shadow's hand was even more menacing and evil in the darkness of the night.

Onlookers would automatically associate it with 'death'.

—The 'thing' was almost as tall as the 'shadow' – a huge double-edged scythe.

…

— _Queen Bee has entered the chat room—_

 **Sorry I got disconnected~ My internet connection isn't very good today, so I think I'll just go to bed~**

[Oh, goodnight then~]

 _But you haven't finished the stories! And who in the world is Guitar Guy…?_

 **I'll tell you next time~ Ah ah, but I'll tell you one last thing—**

…

In the end, the hoodlum ended up like this.

He had nowhere to run in that multi-story car park.

He never found out what had happened to the leader. This particular hoodlum wasn't particularly brave, but after witnessing such mind-boggling things, he couldn't really care about anything like that anymore. He still, however, had yet to see that enormous scythe.

At first he told himself that perhaps everything that had just transpired was some kind of illusion. Later he realized that no matter what it was, there was nothing he could do to change things, so he immediately decided to stop thinking about it.  
He'd received a sharp kick to his neck. Even though he could hear cracking noises that indicated he was being kicked, it didn't feel like his bones were broken too badly. The only excruciating aches and pains he felt were centralized at the crook of his neck. It was so painful that it was almost numb.

To the hoodlum, though, the pain was a very small matter.

"Please…pl-please…please…hold on…p-please h-hold…on…please…hold…o-on…" he babbled with all the pathetic politeness of a loser dog.

He had finally come to understand what kind of situation he was in. Even though he still felt he was dreaming and could rationalize none of what had happened to him, the terror he felt was real enough to wake him up from his stupor.

Not that he completely understood. He did not completely understand what the 'shadow' was (perhaps some kind of deity) or why he had run into trouble like this.

It was most likely work-related. The jobs he did were dangerous and it was very likely that he'd make some enemies along the way, but 'enemies' usually entailed cops or violent gang members, or even their targets—illegal immigrants or brats that ran away from home.

He had mentally prepared for each job he took and made sure not to stir up trouble as he did them, but he'd never expected to see a 'shadow' garbed in a biker suit and had no idea what to do now that he had. The best strategy he could have come up with was a hasty retreat, but now even that was eliminated and the hoodlum was trapped. Now the only possibilities the hoodlum could see were an honorable death or surrender, but it was impossible to predict the motives of his opponent well enough to make a decision on which. Finally, in his desperation, the hoodlum adopted the most cowardly attitude he could muster to try to negotiate with the 'shadow'. He feared that if he didn't speak, he'd be consumed by his own fear.

"You… You've got the wrong person… I won't resist…so let me go … Please… I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Goosebumps were prickling up all over the hoodlum's body as if someone from the yakuza had pointed a gun at his head. He did not make a sound or move from his spot as the 'shadow' watched the previously aggressive hoodlum melting into a cowardly puddle. All he did was look around, as though he was searching for something. With his back to the hoodlum, he moved toward a van parked inside the car park.

It was a commonly sighted vehicle around Wawanaka Station. At night, it was impossible to see inside it because the back windows had been tinted black.

It was like the 'shadow' could see into the black tinted windows, and he moved towards the van without any hesitation.

 _Ah? Eh? Not good!_

That was the van they used for 'work'. Although he didn't know the intentions of the 'shadow', and though there were many other cars around, the shadow was very clearly moving toward the van and the hoodlum was sure that it was his target.

 _Hey! Wait! Shit! This is absolute crap!_

The unexpected behavior of the 'shadow' chilled the hoodlum to the bone. His mind was already brimming with the fear of this 'shadow', but now a different kind of fear was manifesting from somewhere deeper…

 _Eh…eh…ah…ah…wait! Wait! Wait ahhhhhh! If … If you reveal what's inside the van, we're done for! Aw crap, this is bad. Shit, shit, shit, shit—_

What the hell is he doing? What the fuck does he think he's doing?

Two different fears were interwoven in the hoodlum's mind. The first was the fear of the unreal things he was seeing; the other was the fear of the all-too-real reality unfolding before him…

 _If the contents of that van are exposed, I can be as sure as hell that the police will find out, and I might even get 'taken care of'! I'll be murdered and my corpse's gonna be buried in the forests of Mount Chrismore!_

His feet trembled violently.

I have to think of something, think of something quickly…but there's just no way to kill this pretentious wannabe biker.

As morbid thoughts of his death overcame his fears, he racked his brains for a solution.

And after a while, he finally managed to think of something: he'd driven his own convertible to the carpark.

The 'shadow' was around ten meters from the van when he came to a quiet halt. He heard the soft slam of a car door closing behind. He made to turn his head at the sound of it, but the roar of an engine resounded in the carpark.

The 'shadow' turned around and saw a bright red convertible speed towards him. It was accelerating faster than thought possible, so the 'shadow' didn't have time to hide behind a pillar.

The 'shadow' hesitated, and decided to forgo his original plan in favor of charging towards the convertible. Originally, he had planned to get as near as possible to car and then jump to the side, but he hadn't expected the hoodlum to be so driven by his fear and accelerate like this. This didn't give the 'shadow' any openings. The hoodlum spun the steering wheel fiercely in his direction.

There was a loud crash and the 'shadow' could be seen twisting in the air. The shadow landed unceremoniously on the cement with a heavy thud.

"Ahahahahaha! Hahaha! You asked for it! Don't mess with me! Bastard!"

Feeling the impact of the blow the 'shadow' had made against the car raised the hoodlum's spirits. Delirious with joy, he braked and jumped out of the car even before it had come to a complete stop. He grabbed the metal pipe, set on delivering the final blow to his enemy, but—

"?!"

A black object had fallen a distance in front of the collapsed 'shadow'.

From its bizarre appearance, the item was unquestionably the safety helmet the 'shadow' had just been wearing.  
What scared the hoodlum the most was not that the helmet that had fallen on the ground, but the physical oddity of the 'shadow' that had been wearing it.

"Head…head…"

He didn't have a head.

 _Did I knock it off?! But that's impossible! I've killed someone…but it was in self-defense…_

But…it couldn't be…why? Wait…wait…it couldn't be…

The strangeness of the preceding series of events was completely mind-blowing for the hoodlum.

He didn't notice it at all.

Not a drop of blood flowed from the headless body.

….

 **The black biker—doesn't have a head.**

…

The terrified hoodlum approached that headless entity and, without any warning, the headless 'shadow' jumped up suddenly.

…

 **It doesn't have anything above its neck, but it still can move.**

 **Alright then, goodnight everyone~**

— **Queen Bee has left the chat room—**

…

"Au-augh?!"

Though the worst possible scenario had descended before his very eyes, the hoodlum did not feel fear. He felt utterly dumbfounded instead.

Secret schemes? Costume? Robots?  
Super Tsuburi3? Holograms?  
Dream? Illusion? Delusion? Trickery?

Every possible explanation disappeared without a trace before he could consider them further.

The astonishment the hoodlum felt could have been explained by the fact that he'd seen someone knocked down by a car and sent flying, but now he was standing relatively unscathed before him.

The black smoke once again began to stream from his back like before, and finally became a monstrous scythe.

The sheer astonishment had transformed into real terror; the hoodlum's mouth unconsciously hung open as he let out a wail of absolute despair.

And just as his mouth took in the first breath, there was a sharp impact to the throat—

And the world that the hoodlum had been familiar with became an expanse of darkness.

….

PM Mode: _Hey…Skysthelimit, I want to ask you something._

PM Mode: [OK.]

PM Mode: [What is it? Is it something others shouldn't see?]

PM Mode: _Is Queen Bee always doing stuff like that?_

PM Mode: [Isn't it already way past that stage?]

PM Mode: _It's not that bad, but I only came to this chat room because Queen Bee invited me._

PM Mode: [Me too. Although Queen Bee can be pretty self-centered, she's still a pretty likeable girl.]

PM Mode: _And she knows so many things we don't._

PM Mode: [But we don't know which ones are real. Ah, I need to remind you of something.]

PM Mode: [We were talking about that black biker who roams around the city right?]

PM Mode: [Well, I think we'd be better off having less to do with that sort of thing~]

PM Mode: [Goodnight then~]

— _Skysthelimit has left the chatroom—_

PM Mode: _Huh?_

PM Mode: _Aw man, he left. Goodnight then~_

PM Mode: _Ah whatever._

— _Cmeister has left the chatroom—_

…

The headless rider slowly picked up his helmet and pressed it securely to his dull-skinned neck. A little of the black shadow that leaked out from his collar seemed to seeping into it and merging with the helmet.

When that was done, the headless rider strode in nonchalant silence towards the van.

 _At the exit of the car park—_

The headless rider had completed his task and soundlessly left the place. He took care of the people lying on the road, unsure if anyone had passed by, or if all the passer-bys had pretended not to notice.

A black motorcycle stopped in the darkness, the engine purring as if it was welcoming its owner. This engine had been clearly silent as it sped across the road, but began to roar on its own, even though the ignition key wasn't in place.

The headless rider stroked the gas tank in response to its purring, as though he was stroking a beloved steed. The motorcycle seemed contented and the engine purring died down, allowing the headless rider to mount it securely.

The black motorcycle with no headlights carried its rider away.

Sailing into the starless night sky.

Without a single sound, as though it was dissolving into the darkness—


	4. Dollars Arc: Part 3

Chapter 2: The Headless Rider, Outsider's Perspective PART 1

 **Toronto, Paki district, Wawanaka Station**  
 **,In front of the central exit of the ticket counter**

"I wanna go home…" the youth muttered to himself.

This sentence was considered simple when compared to the multitude of thoughts swirling in his head. But it was this simple statement that resonated the most with how he felt now.

Fanning out before his very eyes—people. People, people, people, and people and more people. There was nothing but people in his vision. It was just after six in the evening, the time when the number of people going home from school and work gradually swelled. Of course, it wasn't peak hours yet, but the sheer number of people made him think that they weren't just people, but more like a 'mass'.

Standing in the huge underground space—the middle of Wawanaka Station, brimming before his eyes was a sea of humans. Rather overwhelmed by the spectacle before him, he almost forgot what he came to do.

A man who looked like he was in the working class bumped into the teenager. The teenager made to apologize, but the man didn't even give him a second look and hurried away. The youth lowered his head and murmured, "So-sorry…"

Then he made his way to a pillar a distance away from the ticketing counter and leaned against it.

This teenager—Cody Andersen, began to feel a strange fluttering inside him, and decided it was from his nervousness. Despite having such an impressive name, the expression on his face was the complete opposite of it. In fact, he looked rather queasy.

Cody had come to Wawanaka on the invitation from an old friend. To be more precise, in all his sixteen years, this was in fact his first time in Toronto.

Cody had never left his hometown before. Even in elementary and middle school, he had never gone on field trips. And when he started feeling that this was getting a little extreme, he got into a private high school in the Bluesdale district. It was a fairly new school, and its prestige was above average. Its facilities were excellent and ranked as one of the best in Toronto. Cody could have chosen to go to a high school in his hometown, but he chose to come to Toronto because he'd always dreamed of life in the city and because a good friend in elementary school who had transferred out who had invited him over.

While Cody was still in elementary school, he already had Internet access at home, so even though his good friend was in a different school, they still kept contact via the Internet. Thus, though they hadn't met for a long time, they were still the best of friends.

Cody's parents weren't well versed with the Internet, so it was hard for them to understand a long distance friendship like this. So when they heard their son say that he wanted to go to Toronto to study because 'a good friend who transferred out in elementary school asked me if I wanted to study in a school there', they could hardly accept something like that. Even though they never said it, but it was also because they wanted their son to remain in their hometown and study in a public school. His parents objected to it at first, but after assuring them that he would work and pay for his own living expenses other than school fees in exchange if they let him, he finally convinced them. From spring onwards, he would start his new life in this new world.

"Easier said than done…"

As he faced the crowds who were effectively ignoring him, Cody felt a little suffocated. While he understood that he was feeling like this because he was giving things too much thought, but the uneasy fear that he wouldn't be able to fit in consumed Cody.

But as Cody sighed for the fifth time, an unfamiliar voice sounded in his ear.

"Hey, Cody!"

"?!"

Cody hurriedly raised his head, and saw a teenager with dyed brown hair standing in front of him. The teenager's features still had a childish quality to them and contrasted strongly to his hair color and eye color.

In that moment, Cody jolted with fear at the thought of having already met an extortionist or a fraudster; but then he realized the person had said his name. He studied his face carefully. And finally, Cody finally found a small resemblance to his good friend.

"You're…Mike?"

"Since you're asking me…then I'll generously tell you! Please choose from the three choices: One, Mike Quintet! Two, Mike Quintet! And three, Mike Quintet!"

On hearing this, Cody smiled the first time since his arrival in Wawanaka.

"You're Mike? You're really Mike?"

"I spent three years thinking up that joke, and you're just ignoring it…long time no see man!"

"I just chatted with you online yesterday…but honestly, you've changed so much, I was shocked! I didn't expect you to dye your hair! And that joke just now was lame."

Even if they chatted online every day, it was still impossible for him to know how much Mike had changed in appearance. Even his voice was a little lower. No wonder Cody couldn't recognize it at first.

Mike Quintet grinned sheepishly, and shot back a reply.

"It's been four years, of course I'd change. It's because _you_ haven't changed much at all! You look almost the same as when you were in elementary school…and don't just casually say my joke was lame!"

As Mike spoke, he stretched out a hand and patted Cody, who was much more baby-faced than he was, on the head.

"Hey don't do that. Besides, even when we're chatting online, you're always cracking lame jokes…"

Cody shoved his hand away in mock annoyance. Whether it was in elementary school or in the chat room, it was always Mike leading Cody by the hand, but Cody had no problems with such an arrangement

After their greetings, Mike began to head towards the crowd.

"On that note, let's get going! Let's get outta here first. I'm in an unmistakably Go West mood! But that West doesn't refer to the west exit, but the Sevii department exit! I'm a tricky tour guide huh?"

"I see. But, what's the difference between the west exit and the Sevii exit?"

"…Failed again."

As Cody followed Mike, the fear and unease towards the crowds had subsided considerably. Being guided by a city dweller, and his old friend at that, allowedCody's perception of the city to take a hundred and eighty degree turn.

"To put it simply, Wawanaka's Golden Star department is at the west exit, and contrary to that, the Sevii department is at the east exit—ah…how unlucky, after that joke failed, I still have to explain myself…what am I doing?"

"Being stupid?"

"…That's mean you bastard!"

Mike's expression become pained, and then gave a sigh of resignation and said, "Forget it, I'm better than this, so I'll let you off. Anyway, anywhere you want to go?"

"Hm, I think I told you about it online, something to do with Sunshine City?"

"You want to go there now? Hm…I don't mind, but seriously, wouldn't it be better to bring a chick?"

Sunshine City 60 was once famous for being Wawanka's tallest tower and was a well-known attraction. Even though it has been succeeded by the CN Tower and the Yolo Landmark Tower, Sunshine City 60 is still a recreational wonderland that continuously draws people. It has an aquarium, a Namjatown amusement park, and thus is a good place for students and families to relax.

Even though Cody felt that he was blindly succumbing to some trend, he couldn't think of anywhere else. To tell the truth, there was another place which he'd seen very often on television—

"Ah there was the Wawanaka West Gate Park."

"Oh ,oh, I've watched that drama. I even have the novel and manga."

"Nah I don't mean the drama, I mean the place! West Gate Park!"

Mike stood dumbfounded, and comprehension dawned on his face as he listened to Cody. He grinned and said, "No no, it's called the Wawanaka West Exit Park."

"But…don't the Wawanakaers call it the West Gate Park?"

"'Wawanakaers'? What's with that? Anyway, you wanna go?"

As he watched Mike stop in his tracks, Cody shook his head vigorously. "No…no I don't! It's late and if we go we'd bump into one of those color gangs (note: Illegal street gangs which wear one kind of color clothes, hats or scarves ever since the drama 'Wawanaka West Gate Park' and hang around the West Exit Park) and get killed!"

"Uh…I don't really know how to react to that. And besides, it's only six pm. Jeez; you're still as cowardly as ever."

Mike smiled resignedly and continued leading Cody through the crowds.

The crowds had thinned out by the time they were out. But still Cody had a hard time trying not to bump into people.

"There've been fewer sightings of those color gangs. They were pretty big last year, but after causing a big commotion with the peeps from Fang, a lot of them got arrested. After that, the police would swoop in on groups wearing the same color. Although now most of them only come out at night, they won't do anything flashy before the working class people go home…ah but it's another matter altogether when it comes to the Black Masks and such. Sometimes you'll even see reports about clashes between the Black Masks and the police in the magazines and the news, but that's mostly in the Kabuki district, hardly in Wawanaka."

"The Black Masks?!"

"Nah, like I said, they won't gather at the station at this time."

Cody let out a sigh of relief on hearing Mike's assurance.

"So…now Wawanaka's pretty safe?"

"Not really. I don't really know everything about stuff like that. Well, there are actually quite a few of these groups. Besides the color gangs and the Black Masks, there's still some other dangerous people. They seem pretty normal on the surface, but you must _never get involved with_ them…but you don't really have much to worry. You're not the kind to go around looking for trouble anyway.

Anyway you just have to be careful of those street solicitors and shady merchants and stay away from the gangs and Black Masks and you'll be fine."

"I see…"

Even though Cody was still curious about the people he should 'never get involved with', he decided not to ask him more about them.

 **Alright it's been a while since I last updated this, I had already worked on this chapter and the next chapter, but my drive for my old laptop got corrupted. Luckily I managed to save it on my flash drive that I recently found, so sorry for the long wait and I hope this and the next chapter satisfies you guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 2: The Headless Rider, Outsider's Perspective PART 2

 **The two of them entered a narrow underground passage and headed for the escalator.**

Cody looked around and saw a row of posters plastered onto the wall. The posters were advertising all sorts of things, from jewellery stores to movies. There were even posters of girls from some manga.

When they got to the surface via the escalator, it was still as crowded as just now, but their surroundings were totally different.

The place was as crowded as before, and a few people in windbreakers were giving out flyers slipped in packets of tissue paper. Some were only given to women, and some were given to anyone in sight. As for those meant for men, they were only given to men with a specific quality (people like Cody didn't get one).

There were all kinds of people on the street, working class, young part-timers, high school girls and foreigners—people of all shape and colors were gathered.

Even so, the people did not mingle fully and the people gathered with those of the same race, as if each group had their own territory. Sometimes someone would visit someone else's territory to call someone out. It was already this dark, yet people kept streaming relentlessly forth.

Mike was already used to all this, but to Cody, it was a completely new experience. Even in the biggest shopping district in his hometown, he had never seen so many people. The world he had only seen on the Internet and in the mangas had materialized before his very eyes.

When Cody told Mike how surreal everything felt, Mike laughed and said, "Is that so? Then I'll just take you to Boney Avenue or Crossing the next time. Wendi go Square's not bad either. You'll get culture shock there! How about Center Square? But if you want to see real crowds, I'll take you to a horse race."

"I don't want to go to places like that."

Just as Cody was rejecting Mike's suggestions, the two of them had unknowingly reached a large road. Cars zipped across the multi-lane roadway in an endless stream, and there was even a huge highway towering above the entire road.

"That highway is the capital's expressway. Ah that's right; the place we just came from is called the 60-Story Street. There was also the Sunshine Street, but Cinema Sunshine is on the 60-Story Street, don't mix them up. Since we're passing by, I should show you around…"

"That's all right, let's do it some other time."

Although this was what Cody said, but all the while he'd only noticed the people, completely ignoring the most important part—the city view. If he continued like this, it'd prove quite the challenge for him to get to Sunshine City from the station by himself.

As the two boys waited for the traffic lights to turn green, Mike turned back to look back at the way they came, and muttered to himself, "Thank goodness we didn't run into Eva or Chef…Sam and Dakota are probably at the game centre."

"Who are they?"

It was very obvious that Mike was talking to himself, but on hearing those names, Cody couldn't help but try to find out.

"Ah! Nothing! Sam and Dakota are my friends. Chef and Eva are uh—well they're one of the people you should never get involved with I was telling you about. Most people usually won't run into Eva Stinger, but if you do, the best thing you can do is scram."

From what Mike said, Cody sensed that he didn't really like this 'Eva' person. Seeing that Mike had no intention of saying more, Cody decided not to pry—but there was another thing he wanted to ask, and he decided to.

"About the people you said I shouldn't provoke…they all sound like something out of a manga. Who else is there?"

As the child-faced teenager innocently asked this question, Mike looked up at the sky, as though deep in thought and finally cried, "The first one would be me!"

"…square root of 3 points."

"Square root?! What's up with the square root?! At least answer with something easier to understand, like minus 20 or something! Wait…are you telling me even elementary school students who don't understand square roots wouldn't understand my jokes? How dare you! I've hardly finished talking and you already back sass me! Since when have your comprehension skills become so bad? Is it the liberal education system? That's what caused you to turn out this way right?!

"So even such an education system has its flaws."

It was just like old times and Cody simply went along with Mike's lameness. Perhaps it was because Mike had realized he was being too lame, but he began answering Cody's question properly.

"Hm…actually, there are quite a few dangerous people. There's nothing more to say about those hooligans, but the people you're likely to bump into would be the two I've mentioned. Oh and there's Heather Fairchild too. That girl's really dangerous, so don't ever get involved with her. But she's mainly based in Boney Avenue, so maybe you won't run into her after all."

"Heather Fairchild…what a weird name."

"You're one to talk," Mike chuckled. Cody had no way of rebutting.

He had a name like Andersen as a surname, and his name, Cody was considered rather ostentatious. Although it was said that his ancestors were rather distinguished, Cody's parents were ordinary working class people. It was unclear how much inheritance they had left, but if there still was some left over, they wouldn't have been so unhappy over Cody's decision to study in a private school.

Perhaps his parents had chosen the name Cody for him in the hopes that he could grow up to do great things, but it had been a source of endless embarrassment for him in elementary school. His classmates constantly poked fun at his name. But in the end everyone got used to it, and no one made fun of or ostracized him anymore.

But it was a different situation now. In the middle school in his hometown, there was only one class in every year, and everybody knew each other well. He was now in this unfamiliar place, meeting complete strangers. How was he going to prove himself worthy of his name like this?

—Ah, it's impossible…

Maybe it was because Mike had sensed Cody's doubts about himself, because he decided to reassure him. "Like I said…you don't need to care that much. It's a little flashy, but it's a good name. Cody only has to perform better, and not let anyone think you're not worthy of your name, and then no one will have anything to say about it."

"…Ah, thanks."

No sooner had he finished thanking him, the traffic lights flashed green.

"That's right, there's another group you should avoid…a group called the Dollars. The less you're involved, the better."

"…Dollars?"

"Yeah, like the 'derers' in Wanderers."

"What's that supposed to mean? What kind of people are they?"

Cody had been relatively passive with the other topics they'd brought up, but this time, he wanted the details.

"That huh~ Well, I'm not very clear with that, but I've heard they have a lot people and they're not really normal. Rumor has it that they're considered a color gang, but no one knows what color they are. Like I said, it's hard for color gangs to congregate, so they may have unconsciously disbanded due to the lack of order."

"Ah…"

Cody was satisfied now. But it was becoming awkward between them for some reason.

The crossed the road silently, and walked towards the big building on the opposite street. The big building appeared very chic and there were several stylish sports cars being displayed in it, which complimented the building's appearance nicely.

Cody stared at the building and the cars for a little while—then he heard a strange noise.

When he first that sound, he thought it was the caterwaul of some kind of beast. But, if you listened closely, you'd notice that the sound was coming from the large road, from one of the lanes. As the sound rang out for the second time, Cody decided that it was the sound of an engine. Although it really sounded like an animal call, but it came from the road, so it had to be either had to be from a car or van.

 **All right here's the next chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it!**


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